Comments on ‘The BUGS Project: Evolution, critique, and future directions.’

Lunn, Speigelhalter, Thomas, and Best (henceforth Lunn et al.)[1] provide a comprehensive review of the BUGS software package in this issue. The authors describe how computational algorithms developed for the graphical models were exploited for the purposes of Bayesian inference. When they discuss the software evolution from its early version for UNIX platforms to the development of WinBUGS, a stand-alone application running on Microsoft Windows and, more recently, the release of the opensource version OpenBUGS, which is described as the future direction for BUGS development. Finally, the authors provide a contemporary appraisal and comment on the impact of BUGS. (November 11, 2009)